Guidance

Guidance has been developed to assist Schools and Support Departments with Procurement activities they may be required to be involved in.

Specification Guidance

To ensure that a product or service fits the University’s needs at the end of the tendering process, it is critical that the specification is well compiled and sufficiently detailed.

If the Specification is unclear or lacks detail this could result in the objectives of the original business case not being met, wasted money and time, unsuitable tenderers and bids. Misinterpretation of requirements would result in difficulties evaluating bids which can lead to unsuitable products and services being supplied. Ultimately an incorrect Specification could result in claims of unfair treatment of the Suppliers and inflict lengthy delays and possible reputational damage.

To help you formulate this specification Procurement has developed a template and some guidance on its completion.

Evaluation Guidance

Once bids are received in response to an Invitation to Tender, they must be evaluated with the objective of identifying that the offer meets the University’s requirements and provides the best value for money.

Tenders must be evaluated fairly and equitably and the final decision must be documented and able to withstand public scrutiny.

Procurement have developed a guidance document which is available to download

Contract Management

Contract and Supplier Management is the process by which a contract or agreement can be managed to ensure effective supplier performance and contract compliance. Procurement has developed a standardised approach to contract and supplier management for use on its contracts. This standardised approach will assist in:

Identifying and managing contract risks

Drive contract compliance and conformance

Realise anticipated benefits

Minimise or eliminate scope creep

Facilitate continuous improvement

Improve supply base awareness

This guidance aims to simplify the steps and provides templates of the various documents used within this process. This process should always be carried out in collaboration with Procurement.

Benefits & Savings

Guidance has been developed to help Procurement identify savings and benefits from procurement activity and ensure that these are reported in a consistent manner across the Scottish Public sector. This guidance was jointly developed by senior representatives from sectoral Centres of Expertise covering the NHS, Central government, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, universities and colleges, local authorities, police and fire services across Scotland.

Procurement collates this information for all procurement activity and reports local and collaborative savings on an annual basis as part of the Procurement Annual Report.